NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 111 of the 2023-24 season

There were not many games yesterday but the ones that were on the schedule delivered. St. John’s picked up a huge win over Creighton. It was a win the Red Storm desperately needed so much so that Rick Pitino brought out his all-white suit for the occasion. St. John’s closes the year with three very winnable games. Nebraska continued their late-season surge and blew out Minnesota in Lincoln. The Gophers had been playing very good basketball over the last month and they were stifled in every way possible. Ohio State finally won a road game with a buzzer-beater in Breslin to beat Michigan State. Purdue won at Michigan. That game felt like a home game for Purdue and shows the sad state of Michigan Basketball this year. Maryland beat Rutgers. The win ends any hope of Rutgers making a run to the NCAA tournament this season.

There were some huge mid-major results yesterday afternoon as well. South Florida beat SMU for their 13th win in a row. The Bulls are now 14-1 in the American and have a three-game lead over the second-place teams Charlotte and Florida Atlantic in the league. Speaking of the Owls they lost a close game to Memphis on the road. The Tigers are all of a sudden awake and trying to make a late push to the NCAA tournament bubble. In the MAAC Rider beat Quinnipiac and Fairfield blew out Siena. The Stags are now in first place with Quinnipiac, who had been in first until this week, now in second place. The Quinnipiac Bobcats have never made the NCAA tournament. Then in the Horizon League Youngstown State beat Green Bay and Wright State beat Oakland. Oakland was the league leader and Green Bay was in second place. The Phoenix now sit in third looking up to the Penguins and the Golden Grizzlies. Green Bay misses star Noah Reynolds.

Yesterday I went 15-12 in my picks which brings my 110-day total to 3,289-1,344 overall. It is another light slate of games on Monday, but ESPN does have their Big Monday games with games in the ACC and the Big 12 which are always great games. The rest of the schedule has games in the CAA, Southland, SWAC, and MEAC. Picks for day 111 February 26, 2024, are below.

Delaware over Drexel

North Carolina over Miami

Kansas State over West Virginia

South Carolina State over Maryland Eastern Shore

North Carolina Central over Delaware State

Norfolk State over Morgan State

Howard over Coppin State

Nicholls over Incarnate Word

Bethune over Alabama State

Florida A&M over Alabama A&M

McNeese over Lamar

Texas A&M Corpus Christi over Houston Christian

Pine Bluff over Texas Southern

UNC Wilmington over Campbell

Prairie View over Mississippi Valley State

TCU over Baylor

There is not much on the schedule tonight, but North Carolina does return to the Dean Dome to play Miami. The Tar Heels are not yet out of the running for a one-seed in the NCAA tournament. How do they get there?  Keep winning games to give themselves a chance. Kansas State hopes to make a late surge toward the NCAA tournament bubble. They have a West Virginia team that should be a win coming to the Octagon of Doom. This is the most winnable game left for the Wildcats.

TCU is going for the sweep of Baylor. Baylor and TCU are both well in the field, but a TCU sweep would help them immensely with seeding and Baylor needs the win to stay in the top 16. The Schedule picks up in a big way tomorrow.